The Choice | Bucky Barnes or Steve Rogers

A long sleep

Hi, everybody, how are you? I apologise immediately for any mistakes that will be made in this chapter. I hope, however, that you like the chapter, good reading :)

70 years later..

Cold, icy and constant that completely invades my body, while my mind seems to stop momentarily. Dark, gloomy and quiete that wraps me around itself. Am I dying by chance? Maybe fate had decided this for me.

I wonder what heaven will be like, but to be honest I'm not afraid of what I can find because I know Bucky will be waiting for me. I already imagine I see him get angry for having reached him too soon, but then I know he will soften at the thought of spending the rest of eternity with me.

But if there is no pain in heaven, what is this stabbing burning in the lower abdomen? And why does my head seem to pop? Breathing is getting worse, heartbeats accelerate. "We need a defibrillator" I hear from a voice far from me. Then my mind goes out, slowly and inexorably. There is nothing but darkness.

-

Steve's pov

I woke up in a place unknown to me. The radio was on, reproducing what was to be a 1941 game, a game I had seen. I was so confused about what was going on. I and y/n crashed into the Arctic and now I am in what apparently appears to be a hospital room. My thoughts were interrupted by the door, which opened up showing a woman with thick brown hair.

"Good morning. Or should I say afternoon?" she smiled, expecting me to do it too, but I remained serious "where am I?" that was the first thing I needed to know.

"You're in a recovery room in New York City" I didn't believe her words, it was so weird. I kept listening to the radio, which described a game I'd already seen. What's more, I'm supposed to be dead at this hour, under an avalanche of snow and ice.

"I'll ask you two questions and this time I want you to be honest with me" I said and then I came closer to her, while her face seemed to darken more and more. "Where am I really? The game it's from May 1941, I know, 'cause I was there" I saw her press a button. I imagined that she would not answer me, so I asked the most important thing of all "the girl who was with me on the plane, where is she?" she didn't answer.

"WHERE IS SHE?" I screamed, and then I knocked over the bed "I'm sorry, she didn't make it" she replied in a regretful tone as I died inside. Nothing made sense anymore. I took a few steps back until my back was against the wall. My breath seemed to fail and I instinctively put a hand to my chest, feeling my heart shatter. I began to deny what that woman had said, it was impossible that she was dead. I held her hand tightly to mine while we were on the plane. I felt the warmth of her skin and her heartbeat. Her breath was strong as I confessed my love to her. She was alive.

"A metal plate had pierced her lower abdomen. They couldn't do anything for her" the woman continued to say, bringing me with my feet on the ground "where is she now?" I asked with tears streaming down my face. She couldn't answer me because two guards entered. I threw them to the wall and escaped from that fake hospital.

I started running through the streets of New York until I realized I was no longer in 1941. Where the hell was I?

I was surrounded by some cars and a man with a bandaged eye approached me. "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but we thought it best to break it to you slowly" he told me "break what?" I asked confused.

"You've been asleep, Cap. For almost 70 years" at his words I was even more shocked. My whole life, who I was, my family, Peggy, are gone. I was left alone in a world that no longer belongs to me.

"Is there something that worries you?" the man in front of me asked me "I would like to see my girlfriend, her name is Y/n Y/l/n, do you know where she is?" I put a hand to my head. It was too much information all at once. A weight too great to bear "I'm sorry, but the girl is -" I interrupted him, hearing those words would kill me "I just wish to see her, please" I folded my hands in prayer as my face pleaded for sympathy "it's not possible, I'm sorry."

-

A few months later

I am in the gym, with a punching bag in front of me, and I do nothing but think. In recent times my life has been nothing but a steady decline. I lost everything I cared about, my family and the three people I loved with all of myself, Bucky, Peggy and Y/n. I hate myself for taking her with me that day. Maybe by staying in the past she would get over my and Bucky's death and she would fall in love again, Peggy would cheer her up and together they would be there for each other. Instead I was an idiot, for wanting to take her with me, for making her risk everything. In this moment I would feel less the weight of having destroyed her completely, of having abandoned her to die alone. Who knows if she suffered. Who knows if she's happy now. I hope with all my heart that she is, because after all she has been through she deserves it.

I punch the sack and I am reminded of the war, the death, the suffering of those who have been wounded. I give another one and think about Bucky, how I couldn't help him. I think about how I saw him die before my eyes. I give another one and I see Peggy, I remember her suffering in her voice when she realized she had lost me forever. I give him one last punch, hard enough to detach him from the iron grip, thinking about the promise I broke with Y/n. I told her I'd take care of her, and instead I just broke our promise. I ruined all.

"Sleepless night?" Fury asked me, approaching me, while I took out another punching bag "I've slept for almost seventy years, I think that's enough for me for a while".

"Listen Steve" he approached placing a hand on my shoulder "I have a confession to make, it's about Y/n" I looked at him with interest while his eyes were worried.

Let me know what you think and if you want me to continue the story :)